From disenfranchised neighborhoods of the southern United States, to this wealthy commercial village of New York City, multi-media artist and Duggal client Baron Von Fancy introduces a rare crossing of cultures.

Located at Galeria Melissa, 102 Greene St. in SoHo, the You’re My Drug of Choice exhibit is quite a stretch from the designer shoe store/art gallery’s previous installation, (Plasmatik, by artist Kirsten Kay Thoen, also a Duggal creative client).

Within the pristine space of Galeria Melissa, small patches of AstroTurf have been set with tall white fountains in the center. The fountains are now stained with remnants of flowing red and blue Kool-Aid and in the basins float used styrofoam “2-cups”- an image that calls to mind the aftermath of a raucous house party. Behind the idea of having edible (or in this case potable) art, is a company called Kreemart. In addition to recruiting Baron Von Fancy for this latest project, they’ve worked with artists like Marina Abramovic, Maurizio Cattelan, and many others to create pieces that act as both, “dessert and art.”

For many of us who are unfamiliar with the idea of “2-cups,” also known as “double-cupping,” the term originated in the ghettoized communities of the southern US. Two cups, typically styrofoam, are stacked and used to consume a special drink commonly referred to as “Purp,”- a crude concoction of codeine syrup and grape soda. Several other variations of the name exist such as “Purple Drank,” “Purple Swag,” and “Houston Juice.” All unfamiliar words to most New Yorkers likely to be passing through the streets of SoHo; so how did this drug culture make its way into Von Fancy’s latest project?

According to the Galeria Melissa website, Von Fancy “alludes to a specific drug culture, appropriat[ing] and transform[ing] such into his own drug of choice, as addictive as any: Sugar.” Hence the Kool-Aid fountains. Sugar might seem a comparably innocuous vice when placed in the light of recreationally drinking codeine-spiked soda, but it’s consistent with Von Fancy’s reputation for “oscillating from the colloquial to profound.”

Using Duggal’s multi-media printing capabilities, Von Fancy was able to set his signature pithy messages directly to gleaming metal canvas; giving the effect of words written on the edge of a knife’s blade. To take the notion further, it would seem that they’re meant to be piercing.

Possibly into the wealthy, privileged bubble that surrounds its home at 102 Greene Street?

But that is up to exhibition goers to decide. Baron Von Fancy’s You’re My Drug of Choice installation is both playful and thought provoking, sustaining a tone that is paradoxically dark and effervescent. For the months of spring it will remain at Galeria Melissa, and it is certainly worth checking out!